Thursday, May 31, 2012

It’s a name that jumps off the page of Whitey’s federal prison records. But it’s only the first one that jumps off the page; an even bigger name would follow. Father Robert F. Drinan, a Jesuit priest who was dean of the Boston College Law School, knew Whitey's brother, William, who was one of his favorite law school students. (AP) When Bulger put Drinan on his list of correspondents as a “close” friend, the Bureau of Prisons asked Boston Police to do a background check. And the Boston Police replied that Drinan indicated he had known the family for a long time and would be happy to correspond with Bulger. How in the world would Drinan be connected to the “habitual criminal?” Most likely through a certain Boston College undergraduate, who may have been one of Drinan’s favorite students. The student was William Bulger, Whitey’s younger brother, and he would soon attend BC’s Law School, where Drinan was dean. “The inference is that it’s through Bill Bulger there’s established a beachhead with Robert Drinan,” Lehr said. From early on in Whitey’s prison term, Father Drinan was listed as the person who would be Bulger’s parole adviser upon his release. The only correspondence Lehr has seen is the one letter the prison held onto. Father Drinan died in 2007. His papers and a recent Drinan biography contain no reference to either of the Bulger brothers. And when I talked to Drinan’s former congressional aides, his former chief of staff and his closest political advisers, they were stunned at the link to Whitey. A typical response came from Jerome Grossman, who became one of Drinan’s best friends after recruiting him to run for Congress as a progressive, anti-war candidate in 1970. “It’s a complete surprise,” Grossman said. Then again, those who knew Drinan say the priest kept his priestly duties and corporal acts of mercy — like visiting or writing to prisoners — a private matter and apart from public duties. The letter to Drinan closes with the tone of an order being directed to a future subordinate: Well, Father Drinan, that’s about it and it’s the true story seen through my eyes… Write me as soon as possible. James J. Bulger 77607 Seeing the same letter, former Boston Police Detective Eddie Walsh smiled. The 90-year-old figures he’s seen just about everything. He first saw Bulger in 1955. “Bulger’s very devious and would try anything he could do to get out of there, you know,” and reach as high as he could to do it, Walsh said. I ask him about Whitey checking into the psychiatric ward. “What’s this tell you?” I asked Walsh about Bulger’s nervous breakdown letter. “It tells you he’s full of baloney,” Walsh replied.

You never know when your dreams are going to become reality. For St. John's senior pitcher Joe Robie and junior catcher Corey Tipton that day was Monday during the Three Rivers Athletic Conference baseball championship game at Mercy Field. During the Titans' 8-4 win over Fremont Ross, they combined for a gem good enough to become the No. 1 play of the day among the top 10 plays on ESPN's national broadcast of SportsCenter. The play can be viewed here. In the third, with a runner on first and one out, Ross shortstop Tyler Wolf hit a short pop in front of the plate along the first-base line. Tipton sprung from his crouch, had his path blocked by Wolf in the batter's box, and dived to keep the ball in the air with his mitt. Robie then dived to make a bare-handed grab just before the ball hit the turf for the unusual 2-1 popout. "That was awesome," Robie said. "I never really expected that. I was swimming [after the game], and I picked up my phone, and I had all these missed calls and texts. People were going crazy about it. Then I saw it on [ESPN], and I was like, ‘No way.' "As a little kid I always dreamed of being on SportsCenter's Top 10 and, what do you know, it came true. It's one thing to be on there, but it's another thing to be No. 1. I never thought in my wildest dreams that would come true. I saw it on there, and I still don't believe it."

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

William Peter Blatty and other concerned alumni have created an online petition -www.gupetition.org - on which he asks donors to curb their contributions to Georgetown for one year. It also states that the rights of Catholics to a Christian education have been violated by Georgetown's "21-year refusal to comply fully with the law of the Church." Because of this, he is initiating the canon lawsuit against Georgetown. Among the remedies the petition seeks is that there be a "declaration by the appropriate ecclesiastical authority that Georgetown University is no longer entitled to call itself a Catholic or Jesuit University." There is precedent for this, said Father Michael Orsi, the Chaplain and Research Fellow in Law & Religion at the Ave Maria School of Law, a Catholic law school in Naples, Fla. "Catholic theologians are given a mandatum by the bishops of the dioceses that they are qualified to teach Catholic theology," he said. The rulebook for this is the Ex corde Ecclesiae, an order issued by Pope John Paul II in 1990. It defined what Catholicism means for Catholic universities. All educational facilities must have the endorsement of the local bishop. "The other side of it is the bishop can remove a Catholic theologian," Orsi said. He mentioned two instances where this was done. One was the case of Father Charles Curran, a theologian at the Catholic University of America. He taught about subjects that were considered antipodal to Catholic teachings. He was determined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to be ineligible to be a professor of Catholic theology and was fired from his teaching position in 1986. The Congregation was run by then-Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. The other cited by Orsi was more recent. St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix was stripped of its "Catholic" appellation in December 2010. Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted issued a decree dissolving the hospital's affiliation with the Catholic Church. He wrote in his decree that he could not confirm the hospital was providing its services in line with Catholic precepts. "It is not done enough," Orsi said.

If Blatty's lawsuit moves forward, a brief will be presented to the Archbishop of Washington, D.C. He must make the determination that Georgetown no longer conducts itself as a Catholic university should.

"Georgetown, of course, will say they have mass, they have the Knights of Columbus on campus," Orsi said. "This will be their attempt to say they are Catholic. They will say that allowing Sebelius was merely an expression of free speech on campus."

St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercisesis,
basically, a guide for retreat directors. It outlines a series of
meditation topics, methods of prayer, and principles to help in the
process of “the discernment of spirits.” The
first set of principles for discernment deal with interpreting the
experience of spiritual consolation and spiritual desolation. He goes
into great detail defining those terms and describing what he means by
them. He does this in order to help retreatants and retreat directors
learn to identify and process what is going on inside the soul as a
person seeks to follow God more closely. In the first two rules for the
discernment of spirits, he makes two critical observations.First, he points out that two “spirits” are interested in influencing
our souls: The good spirit (God, and God’s messengers, like the
angels), and the evil spirit (the devil and his minions). God wants to
lead and guide and draw each one of us closer to himself; the devil
wants to obstruct our progress towards God, and, if possible, turn us
away from God entirely. But both “spirits” have to work within the
confines of human nature, influencing us from within our souls, where we
experience feelings, attractions, repugnance's, thoughts, memories,
desires… In reflecting on and interpreting those interior experiences,
we exercise our freedom and make decisions, and our decisions either
bring us closer to God or distance us from him.

This is why St. Ignatius
considers it so important to be able to identify the source of those
interior experiences; we need to know whether they are being stirred up
by the enemy of our soul in an effort to thwart our spiritual progress,
or whether they are nudgings and whisperings from our Lord.

Second, he distinguishes two basic states in which particular
individuals can find themselves. On the one hand, a person can be on the
path of sin, living life by seeking happiness in any number of idols
instead of in a relationship of obedience and love towards God. On the
other hand, a person can be on the path of holiness, seeking to grow in
friendship with God and to purify their souls from inordinate
attachments that impair that friendship.

Link (here) to read the full post by Fr. John Bartunic at the blog entitled, Catholic Spiritual Direction

Living in right relationship with all God’s Creation is at the center of our Christian faith. The Eco-Justice Ministry seeks not only to reduce our carbon footprint and live more sustainably, but to open ourselves to a radical change of heart and mind in how we live on and with the earth.

We promote ways in which we as individuals, as families, and as a
faith community can care for creation by making our homes and the
church-school campus more sustainable.

We promote governmental policies that are environmentally sound.

We advocate for those who are most severely burdened by the effects of environmental degradation and climate change.

Link (here) to more about this at the Jesuit Parish, St. Joseph in Seattle, Washington

Monday, May 28, 2012

Brave soldier of Spain, braver soldier of God!
How hard and how rugged the pathway you trod.
Manresa seems easy compared with the school
"Where you in ripe manhood became like a fool,
Rehearsing your grammar with children once more.
Your voyage to Palestine's mystical shore
"Was less than the journey to class day by day—
But that, St. Ignatius, was always your way:
To use the means fittest for gaining your end,
"While begging of God special succour to lend—
To shrink from no labour or danger or care,
To work as if nothing depended on prayer,
And then, as if all with God's clemency lay,
Most earnestly, constantly, humbly to pray.*

How grand must your nature have been, and your heart,

So deep and enduring a stamp to impart
To Xavier and hundreds of heroes since then.
You truly are one of the leaders of men;
You lead them to God. Oh! the dupe and the
knave

Who at you and your children carp, snarl, and rave,
They know you not, Father Ignatius! but I
Know well you and yours, and full gladly would
die

That not the bad only should slander and blame

The Company banded by Captain so great!
Let Heresy give them the praise of its hate;
Let sensual, proud unbelievers detest—
The demons of hell know their enemies best—
But ye who love Jesus, rejoicing applaud
All, all who are striving to win unto God
The souls Jesus died for.

When earth's war is done, Ignatius, what captive hosts you shall have won!
Great Xavier's magnificent soul your first spoil.
And so all the marvellous fruits of his toil;
And all who your flag to the end shall uphold—
Canisius, Alphonsus, the laybrother old;
The three youthful saints to the youthful so dear ;*
De Britto and Suarez, unlike in their sphere;
Francis Regis at home drawing thousands to God,
And Claver, apostle of negroes abroad;
De Lugo and Bellarmine, who teachers teach,
With Segneri, Bourdaloue, mighty in speech;
And Southwell, true poet, true martyr; St. Jure,
Rodriguez, ascetics large-minded and sure;
With all who your wise, gentle spirit and rule
Have followed in pulpit, confessional, school;

Tour honour and theirs to attest. Cruel shame,

And all who have striven to sanctify men
By prayer and example, the voice and the pen;
And all -who have laboured and labour unknown,
And thus shall toil on till the last trump has blown:
In all that each one of your children endures,
A share shall for ever, Ignatius, be yours.

Ignatius, a saint ere your earliest vow,
A hero, an angel—what must you be now?
How vile seemed the earth when you looked up to
heaven ! (Quam sordet terra dum coelum aspicio)

To God and his glory your grand soul was given;

God's glory alone was your joy and your pride,

"For God's greater glory" you lived and you died.

Oh, great St. Ignatius, look down from your throne,
And do not the least of your children disown;
Pray, pray for us unto the Father of all,
Through whom and in whom you our father we
call.

And we—may we each, in our place and our day, Work for God while obedience guides safely our way;

May each to each duty, how humble soe'er, Give soul and sense wholly, with faith and with prayer;

May each, to your war-cry (Ad Majorum Die Glorium) unflinchingly true,
Live and die as the son of such father should do;
And be it to all—yes, to all of us—given
To meet as your children, Ignatius, in heaven.Link (here) to the poem written byFr. Matthew Russell, S.J.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

In a keynote commencement speech, Victoria Reggie Kennedy also urged graduates to make progress by finding common ground with people as she said her late husband did. The Catholic attorney previously had been scheduled to deliver this year's commencement speech at Anna Maria College in Paxton. That Catholic college rescinded the invitation under pressure from Worcester Bishop Robert McManus, however. McManus objected to Kennedy's public support for abortion rights and gay marriage, which are against church teachings. Kennedy told the Boston College law graduates it would be impossible for her to unravel her faith from the rest of her life. She said lawyers must keep fighting for equal rights, civil rights, and human rights "for all of God's children." Seven protesters picketed outside, with a sign picturing an aborted fetus and others that said:

"BC Honors Abortion Defender.""What rational person could reasonably be expected to take seriously Catholic opposition to abortion when a Catholic institution honors someone who is defender of abortion?" said C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts.

"It conveys the message that either abortion is not that wrong or we're not that Catholic,"Operation Rescue Boston president Bill Cotter said. School officials said it isn't their practice to give honorary degrees to speakers, and they didn't award one to Kennedy. In a prepared statement, they said Kennedy shares graduates' interests in public policy and is committed to social justice.

Father Friedhelm Mennekes SJ, founder
and long-time director of the Art Station Sankt Peter has also commented
to the newspaper about the cancelling of the exhibition. He pointed
to the rich tradition of the crucifixion motif, to the derision that
Christianity once had suffered through the representation of a crucified
donkey, and also to the "Jewish pig" in Cologne Cathedral. All these
elements played into Anzingers work- he himself had exhibited a
butterfly crucified by Markus Lüpertz in St. Peter's. "I hope that the
cancellation was not a case of anticipatory obedience to ecclesiastical
authority," said Mennekes in conclusion. (Cathcon- no wonder the Jesuits
are the worst hit of the orders after the Council. They were set up
on army lines by St Ignatius with a specific oath of obedience to the
Pope. Now they are a bunch of ecclesiastical anarchists no longer of
capable of fighting) It is precisely this fear Guido Schlimbach tried to dispel when talking
to the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" . The Art Station is after all not an
art hall, but a house of God: "We derive life from the whole life of the
community." A crucified pig in oil next to a crucifix is not easy in
this context - and as Anzinger totally refused to compromise, the
cancellation could not be avoided. "I'm sure," said Schlimbach,
"Mennekes would not have put on the exhibition."(Cathcon- see his
comments above which go in the opposite direction.)

Friday, May 25, 2012

“Georgetown is the oldest Catholic university in the country. Part of Catholic identity is to be in union with the bishops,” Cardinal Dolan said.

“When they would invite someone that is so dramatically at odds with one of the central tenets of the faith, that does bother us,” Dolan said. “We’re disappointed [about the invitation], but we’re not shocked. Because unfortunately some of our Catholic universities — thank God not many — have been moving toward a more secular model,

where they would take their cues from what’s happening in contemporary events instead of the timeless wisdom of the church. I’m afraid that’s what might be happening here.”

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Georgetown University in Washington this week defended its decision
to invite Kathleen Sebelius, US Secretary of the Department of Health
and Human Services, to speak at an awards ceremony at the school held in
conjunction with graduation.

Ms Sebelius has been the focus of much criticism by Catholic groups
over a January mandate by her department that will require employers to
provide their staff with insurance that covers contraception and sterilizations.

In a statement, Georgetown President John DeGioia said that students
at the School of Public Policy had nominated Ms Sebelius to speak at the
event. He added: "The Secretary's presence on our campus should not be
viewed as an endorsement of her views."

In John Paul II’s Fides et Ratio, a seminal document which, I would estimate, was read by less than one percent of graduates of Catholic colleges during their past four academic years. Leading us all to “the truth is ultimately an act of love.”

What is lacking in our universities is precisely this openness to all reality. “Faith’s recognition of the essential unity of all knowledge provides a bulwark against the alienation and fragmentation which occur when the use of reason is detached from the pursuit of truth and virtue,” Catholic institutions have a role to play but only if they are able to recognize what is at stake in their purpose for existing. Evidently, many have failed in this matter. The pope speaks of a “culture that is genuinely Catholic.” What is obvious today is that, with the decrees constantly coming from the government, the culture is becoming less and less open to any sort of Catholic presence except that which is confined to a narrow range of itself.

It is consoling that the bishops seem to recognize what is at stake. It is, shall we say, “unsettling” that the universities largely do not. In an official statement (May 15), the President of Georgetown has affirmed, even in cases like the current one, that the university does not approve of anything that is contrary to basic Catholic teachings. Kathleen Sebelius speaks because she recognizes the value of her role as a nominal Catholic in submitting the freedoms of the Constitution to the control of a “rights-state” that is all too willing defines for us what religion must mean if it is “allowed” to participate in public life. We are perhaps seeing the end of the great American experiment of religious freedom by those who have little understanding or sympathy for it. Catholics, ironically, are seeing their freedoms restricted and ended by the aid of other Catholics, political and academic, who have denied, in practice, any real connection between reason and revelation.

Geraldine Ferraro, the 1984 candidate for the vice presidency whose
position on abortion repeatedly put her at odds with New York’s late
John Cardinal O’Connor, will soon be memorialized at Fordham Law School,
according to a report in Fordham magazine. Ferraro’s husband, John Zaccaro Sr., and their son, John Zaccaro Jr.,
who are pictured in the magazine, recently made a “leadership gift” to
Fordham in honor the late Queens congresswoman who rose to national
prominence. Ferraro died of multiple myeloma in 2011. The gift, whose amount is not disclosed in the article, reportedly
will go to support a new Law School building and undergraduate residence
hall, now under construction and scheduled to open in 2014. A floor in the building will be named for Ferraro, a memorial Fordham magazine describes as “a fitting tribute to a woman who spent her career fighting for victims of inequality and abuse.”

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Georgetown is my alma mater, and I have many fond memories
of the college at which I matriculated almost fifty years ago. I had
many fine Jesuit and lay teachers (amongst the latter, not all were
Catholic but understood, respected, and celebrated the institution’s
mission and identity as a Catholic and Jesuit center of learning) who
helped me simultaneously cultivate my mind and soul. I don’t think I
would have the same experience today if I were matriculating in the
present day.

Why? Was the decision to change the soul of the institution
intentional? Probably not. But change has happened through decisions
that persons responsible for the nature and soul of Georgetown have made
freely over the years. The evidence of the withering of the Catholic
soul has grown during the passage of time. I cannot say if there is
still time for Georgetown, and other schools pursuing the same path, to
self-prune, but I pray for this. Being an optimist, I want to say there
may well be a final opportunity, but the time is growing short, very
short, for this to happen.

Almost twenty-two years have passed since Blessed John Paul II issued his apostolic constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae
addressing many important matters concerning Catholic universities,
their mission, and their identity. Some of the institutions which claim
the modifier “Catholic” have taken the counsel of JPII to heart, but
others have not. Georgetown is in the latter category, so it appears,
judging from all the currently available evidence. Today I join the
appeal of Professor Patrick Deneen and others acknowledging that much will be
lost when this, the oldest Catholic university in the United States,
takes that final step that severs itself from the Vine of Christ. As I
said, there may still be time, and if there is, it is preciously little.
The bonfire that may result is not one of vanity but of a soul. With
the soul gone, the vanity will remain.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

A community of Jesuits required a home and a center for their religious mission. The architecture reflects their commitment to
simplicity, spirituality, and intellectualism. Aware of their role as teachers and spiritual guides, the Jesuits sought a building that would serve as an exemplar of ecological architecture. This residence
and apostolic center sits at the heart of a campus and houses Jesuit
priests, offices, a chapel, community dining room, great room, and
library. The site is prominent and lovely, a steeply sloping hillside
bounded to the south by mature European beech trees that frame distant
views to Long Island Sound. The building rests on the shoulder of the
slope, organizing its community spaces beneath the low plane of a garden
roof, uninterrupted except by the monitor that lights the chapel, the
spiritual heart of the building. All design decisions promote the
smooth function of a combined social center, religious sanctuary, and
home and optimize the building’s environmental performance. Operable
windows promote natural ventilation, reduce mechanical loads, and admit
winter sunlight onto dark concrete floors that absorb and radiate solar
energy. Natural daylight floods the interior. Renewable materials line
the building’s surfaces. The building overhangs its foundations,
protecting the root systems of the giant beech trees that surround it
and that shade the building’s southerly windows during hot summer
months. The garden roof filters storm water, reduces heat loss,
and increases the durability of the roof membrane. A closed-loop
geothermal heating and cooling system provides energy to the building
without fossil fuels. Both traditional site and building design best
practices and innovative environmental technologies serve to reduce
short-and-long term impact on the local and global environment, helping
the Jesuits to achieve their goal of acting as “good stewards of the
Earth.”

Link (here) to the AIA Go (here) to read previous post on this subject.

This buildings cost $10 million to construct, 12 Jesuits live in this facility, divide 12 by ten million dollars, that equals $833,000.00 per Jesuit

You may have heard about the Garcia-Prats family of Houston -- a family of 12 with 10 sons. The Garcia-Prats have had a son in attendance at Strake Jesuit College Preparatory in Houston since August 1990 -- 22 consecutive years.And this month, the last of their 10 sons will graduate high school. Timmy Garcia-Prats, the 10th son of Joseph and Cathy Garcia-Prats, will follow in his nine older brothers' footsteps. All of the Garcia-Prats men have continued on to college. With Timmy choosing to attend Marquette University in the fall, the Garcia-Prats' sons will have attended 10 different undergraduate universities.

Daniel Kennedy is entering the Jesuit novitiate at a time when membership in
religious orders is shrinking. The Jesuits’ ranks worldwide have
dwindled to about half their peak of 36,000 in the mid-1960s.

Just 32
Americans entered the order as novices last year. The Roman Catholic Church is still reeling from the sexual abuse
crisis and facing a severe shortage of priests in the United States.
Recent actions by the church hierarchy - including the Vatican’s
reprimand of American nuns and the US bishops’ investigation of the Girl
Scouts - have drawn scathing criticism.

Kennedy says he sees the church as a dynamic institution, and that he feels responsible for helping to bring about its renewal. “I’m
not entering the church of 50 years ago or 500 years ago. I’m entering
the church in 2012,’’ he said. “So you have to be realistic about the
challenges of the images of priesthood in this day and age. . . . I
don’t find it daunting, but it’s going to be a challenge.’’

He
says he shares some of the critics’ questions, such as why the Vatican
decided to investigate the US nuns, and why the church has taken such a
hard line against gay relationships. He talks about the importance of
lay empowerment and of affirming the role of women as leaders in the
church. When he becomes a priest, he says, he plans to adopt a
consensus-building approach, as some of the best priests he knows have
done.

“The intentions of leadership within the church I don’t
think are bad - I don’t think they wake up every day and say, ‘How can
we make someone’s life miserable?’’’ he said. “But . . . what is the
lived experience of Catholics today? You have to account for that.’’

Link (here) to read the full story at Boston.com Fr. James Martin, S.J. on the subject (here)

Monday, May 21, 2012

The report from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith -- the church's orthodoxy watchdog -- was publicly released last month by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The report said that although the women's leadership group had been vocal about social justice issues -- the report praised the nuns' work with the needy -- the group had been unacceptably silent on other issues, notably opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion. The Vatican ordered the nuns to focus more on promoting church orthodoxy. Reactions to the analysis have included standard letters and phone calls as well as Facebook posts and Twitter hash tags. "Fifty years ago, a document like this would have been published internally and then trickled down," said Sister Janice Farnham, a retired professor and historian at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. Farnham said she read about the report on the BBC's wire and not through the "traditional avenues of the church." The document quickly reached the masses via Internet links and re-posts. Social media are the perfect place for people to weigh in when they feel voiceless, said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author of "The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything." "Everyone who is baptized is part of the church, but sometimes Catholics don't feel that they have venues in which they can express their views," he said.

Martin started a hash tag (.whatsistersmeantome) to thank nuns for dedicating their lives to the communities in which they work and to separate the comments from the rest of the Twittersphere. The conversation soon grew to include voices supporting orthodox, habit-wearing orders. Jacob Biddle tweeted, "Sisters to me mean habited women who fight heresy and the devil, not embrace them like LCWR." Robert Salazar tweeted a link to a cloistered community in New Jersey and praised its work.

"Great sisters -- obedient to God and His Church." Some associated with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious don't agree with the claim that they've strayed from church doctrine. "For me, to follow Jesus was to engage in my community that struggled for civil rights," said Campbell, whose organization, Network, was singled out for criticism in the Vatican's review. "To nourish my faith was to nourish my quest for justice, and my community does that." The assessment, based on a two-year investigation, shook those affiliated with the conference and brought attention to how nuns conduct themselves. For example, some take a more activist role to their work, while others may focus on a more contemplative life. "There is room for both kind of sisters," Martin said. "The problem is some Catholics think that being a traditional sister is the only way."

Sunday, May 20, 2012

I, the undersigned, a Catholic in full communion with the Church, in keeping with the rights, duties and obligations of the Laity and the Christian faithful under the 1983 Code of Canon Law: to make known our needs to our pastors through petition, to maintain communion with the Church, to perfect the order of temporal affairs, and legitimately to vindicate our rights in the Church, as well as the rights and duties we have under Article 4 of Ex corde Ecclesiaie, as may apply, do hereby express my grave concern that my rights to know and follow the truth of the Catholic Church, to a Christian education, and others, have been violated by Georgetown University’s twenty-one year refusal to comply fully with the law of the Church through the implementation of the general norms of Ex corde Ecclesiae and its eleven year non-compliance with certain particular norms adopted for the United States, which has led directly and indirectly to the tolerance and promotion of deviations from authentic doctrinal and moral teachings by Georgetown University authorities and a long series of Scandals to the faithful through actions inconsistent with a Catholic identity.

Therefore, I do hereby designate and appoint WILLIAM PETER BLATTY as my lawful procurator to act for me, if necessary, in the protection of my rights in accord with the norms of canons 1481-1490 and 1738, to seek alternative forms of relief that may include a declaration by the appropriate ecclesiastical authority that Georgetown University is no longer entitled to call itself a Catholic or Jesuit university, or to order a Visitation, or to seek other remedies, and do expressly grant him a Mandate to appoint additional and substitute procurators, to submit a petition, to renounce an action, instance or judicial act, to make a settlement or strike a bargain, and to enter into arbitration in accord with canon 1435.

“I got a message for you Kathleen Sebelius: You’re a murderer, abortion is murder!” yelled the heckler as he was being escorted out of the room by campus police. The young activist told CNSNews.com that he goes by the name of David Lewis. Alluding to Biblical scripture, Lewis also yelled across the room towards Sebelius,

“We can better have millstones hung around your neck murderer.” Luke 17:2 states, “It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones [children] to sin.” Sebelius was heckled less than two minutes into her speech during an
awards ceremony for Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute’s
graduating students.

During the speech, Sebelius quoted John. F. Kennedy’s famous 1960 speech about his Catholic religion and views on the separation of church
and state. CNSNews.com spoke with Lewis outside the university’s gate. He said
he is not a Georgetown student but is a member of a pro-life group
called “The Society of Truth and Justice,” led by pro-life activist Randall Terry, who is running in the Democratic primary against Obama. Lewis said he was escorted off campus and asked by university
authorities to sign a paper saying he could not come back to the
institution for a year. Violating that agreement would get him arrested,
he said.

Link (here) to the full article and watch the video David Lewis heckling Kathleen Sebelius and his post event interview.

Saint Peter’s College in New Jersey announced recently that a population control advocate who supported efforts to reduce population in China and India, supports the distribution of contraceptives, and even opposed the Holy See on conscience clauses to protect healthcare workers from being forced to perform or take part in abortions will be honored at the college’s May 21 commencement ceremony.

Former U.N. Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury is scheduled to be awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree and deliver the commencement address at Monday’s ceremony. According to the college’s website, “Ambassador Chowdhury is an active advocate and renowned lecturer in world affairs.”

But what does Chowdhury advocate?

In 1983, The U.N. Fund for Population Activities, which Chowdhury chaired, outraged many by awarding grants to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India’s efforts at population control and to China’s family planning chief for their efforts to reduce population. Both countries reportedly ”used brutal methods to curb population growth,” according to the New York Times including forced sterilization. Anwarul K. Chowdhury also served as President of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which was labeled by The Vatican, according to the New York Times, as “an advocate of birth control.” And it doesn’t stop there. Chowdhury currently sits on the board of the population control group “Population 2005” which lists as its goal and purpose:

Accessibility to reproductive health services to all individuals of appropriate ages through the primary health care system as soon as possible and no later than the year 2000.

Meeting the family planning needs of all countries’ populations as soon as possible and no later than the year 2015 so as to provide universal access to a full range of safe and reliable family planning methods and lawful reproductive health services to individuals and couples who need them. He sits on that board with not one, but two former high ranking members of Planned Parenthood.

Cardinal Raymond Burke, head of the highest court at the Vatican and a former bishop of St. Louis, Mo., said of Kathleen Sebelius in 2009: “Whether Governor Sebelius is in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, or in any other diocese, she should not present herself for Holy Communion, because after pastoral admonition, she obstinately persists in serious sin.” Sebelius

“is well known for her support of the right to procured abortion and for her public association with some of the more notorious agents of the culture of death,” said Burke.

“As a Roman Catholic, her appointment is the source of the greatest embarrassment because she has publicly and repeatedly betrayed her Catholic faith, in the most fundamental tenet of the moral law, that is, the law to safeguard and foster human life from the moment of its inception to the moment of natural death,” Burke said.“What is more, she has obstinately remained in her moral error after being admonished by, at least, three of her bishops …” he added.

Link (here) to recapture the 2009 statement by Cardinal Burke at CNSNews

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Earlier this year, after an outcry from conservative lawmakers and
Catholic leaders, the Obama administration said it still would require
birth control coverage but would mandate that insurance providers pick
up the cost instead of religious-affiliated employers who who have moral
objections to birth control. Churches already are exempt from the
mandate. Georgetown, in response to calls to withdraw Kathleen Sebelius’ invitation,
said that the school invites a wide variety of “high-profile” speakers
and that Sebelius was chosen by students in the school’s Public Policy
Institute to talk at their diploma ceremony.

At least three men could be seen and heard Friday protesting her
speech to graduates at the Washington school’s Public Policy Institute.

The protesters were escorted out the building by police but were not
arrested.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Georgetown University alumni, students and others are preparing a canon law suit to be filed with the Archdiocese of Washington and the Vatican, seeking remedies “up to and including the possible removal or suspension of top-ranked Georgetown’s right to call itself Catholic or Jesuit in its fundraising and representations to applicants.”

The effort is being led by the distinguished Georgetown alumnus William Peter Blatty, who won an Academy Award for his screenplay and book The Exorcist and has been honored by Georgetown with its John Carroll Medal for alumni achievement. Blatty is urging Georgetown alumni, students, parents, faculty and anyone associated with Georgetown to join the lawsuit at www.gupetition.org. The website includes an inspiring letter by Blatty and a description of Georgetown’s historical ties to the Jesuits, the Washington Archdiocese and the Vatican. Blatty has asked The Cardinal Newman Society to advise the effort, share documentation on Georgetown scandals, and provide administrative support.

CNS President Patrick J. Reilly told Georgetown’s campus newspaper The Hoya: For 19 years, The Cardinal Newman Society has documented numerous concerns at Georgetown that significantly compromise the university’s Catholic identity. We’re thrilled that the distinguished alumnus William Peter Blatty has invited us to assist him and others in their efforts to defend Georgetown’s Catholic mission from those who would undermine or abandon it. Such intervention is necessary only because Georgetown’s leadership has repeatedly demonstrated its unwillingness to uphold Georgetown’s obligations under the U.S. bishops’ guidelines, Ex corde Ecclesiae and Canon Law.

Those protesting at Obama’s campaign headquarters said members of
Catholic Worker communities from at least 10 states gathered for a
retreat, and that Monday’s demonstration was meant to launch their “Week
Without Capitalism” campaign and push for “nonviolent resistance to the
corporate G8/NATO agenda.”Jerica Arents, of the White Rose Catholic
Workers, told the Chicago Tribune that some of the demonstrators had
come from across the Midwest and would be joining NATO protests all
week. She then reaffirmed her group’s commitment to pacifism before
blasting NATO for consuming the world’s resources.”We see NATO as using
up a lot of resources in the city and the world,” she said. What was meant to be a peaceful demonstration, however — complete with
the handing out of rolls with which to “break bread” — ended as it
typically does with members of far left movements: in handcuffs. In
total, eight protesters were arrested. They were cheered by other
activists who showed their solidarity by dancing around Obama’s
headquarters and singing gospel and folk songs. As the apprehended were
led to a police van, yet another horde of protesters began
chanting: ”Ain’t going to Study War No More.”

Thursday, May 17, 2012

This is not your father's Church. The Modernists are not as strong
as they were forty years ago. Even if they still control many
universities and religious orders, they no longer control the
episcopate. By a direct onslaught, Georgetown has hastened the day when
it will find this out.
I don’t know exactly what can be done about Georgetown at this
juncture. Certainly if Cardinal Wuerl can do more, he should; and if he
cannot do more, it would be better for him to square off against
Georgetown on this issue both personally and publicly. But that he is
willing to permit the battle lines to be hardened is not nothing.

The consecration of the human race to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, accomplished by Pope Pius XII on October 31, 1942, was the result of the requests, not of Sr. Lucy, but of another Portuguese woman, Alexandra da Costa, known by the name of Alexandrina of Portugal, who was born in Balasar, a village situated between the cities of Porto and Braga, on March 30, 1904, a Good Friday. At the age of 14, in order to defend herself against the perverse intentions of three men who had entered the house where she was in the company of two other girls, she jumped out of a window 12 feet high, and as a result of the fall suffered damage to her spinal column that immobilized her in a painful martyrdom that lasted until her death on October 13, 1955. It was to this victim that our Lord gave the order to obtain from the Pope the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The first request dates from July 31, 1935, and Alexandrina, who was already a voluntary victim of the Eucharist, offered herself as well as "victim for the consecration of the world to our little Mother in Heaven." Our Lord having urged her to obtain this consecration for more than a year, finally her spiritual director, Fr. Mariano Pinho, S.J., transmitted this request for the consecration of the world on September 11, 1936, to His Holiness Pope Pius XI by the intermediary of his Secretary of State, Cardinal Pacelli. The Holy See then ordered the Apostolic Nunciature of Lisbon to initiate an inquiry into the matter. On July 11, 1937, the Provincial of the Jesuits wrote to the Nuncio, relating to him the conclusion of the investigation:

On the basis of the information gathered, it is not possible to doubt the sincerity or the virtue of the young woman. But since she does not show any outward sign that can prove the divine origin of the locutions that she says she hears, the possibility of illusion still remains.

It was Fr. Pinho who was charged with preaching the spiritual retreat to the Portuguese bishops at Fatima in June 1938; at the end of the retreat, the bishops wrote a collective letter to Pope Pius XI:

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

“Tell me who you honor and I will tell you what you are.” Honors do not have to be given. They mean nothing unless they are freely given. When given, they signify agreement, distinction. A university might well invite to its halls someone to lecture who denies everything the university stands for. But this invitation would not be offered as an “honor.” Both the speaker and the audience would know the conflicting nature of the address. There might be debate, questioning, and controversy. But neither the listeners nor the speaker would think that anyone was being honored except in the sense that the invited representative really knew the matter at controversy.

An honor does not come from the side of the honoree. The latter is surprised and pleased to learn that his deeds or works have been recognized by some institution. To receive such an invitation is taken as recognition of one’s accomplishment or worth. No one invites his enemy to be honored for so skillfully undermining one’s own status or stature.

One must assume that whoever invited the person to be honored found grounds for agreement or praise. No one honors those who undermine the fundamentals of civilization. The foundation of our civilization is the Socratic “It is never right to do wrong.” In effect, this doing wrong is what the government through the HHS secretary is asking us to do. One can hardly blame the person being honored for thinking the he is worthy of the honor to be conferred. He may be modest about it, but he knows that the award was designed to acknowledge or approve or praise his unique accomplishment. Moreover, he only accepts the honor if he thinks it is sincerely given by those who are worthy judges of excellence and worthiness. An institution awards the HHS secretary high honors because it admires her. She has every right to think that such an offer comes to her in this spirit. If her views are radically disagreed with, she would expect not to be invited.

With the recent tippings of the hands of the Vice President and
President (by relying on his Christian faith) to support the initiative
to legalize same-sex marriage (a matter traditionally within the
jurisdiction of the states), former Speaker of the House, Representative
Nancy Pelosi [HERE],
has thrown her support in favor of this “evolving” concept. Not only
did she endorse the President’s views and embrace his rationale, she
offered her own perspective in response to the related questions, “Do
you believe that religion and the idea that you can support gay marriage
should be separated? And how do you grapple with the idea that you
support gay marriage as a Catholic?”, by stating that,

My religion compels me, and I love it for it, to be against
discrimination of any kind in our country. And I consider this a form of
discrimination. I think it is unconstitutional on top of that. So, I
think that yesterday was a great day for America because the President
in a very personal, as well as presidential way, made history.

Once again, with the greatest respect to the representative and her
leadership post in Congress, I suggest that she does not understand very
well what her religion—which happens to be mine as well—says about
discrimination.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Late last Friday, Georgetown University announced that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is the featured speaker for an awards ceremony at the University's Public Policy Institute. This news is a disappointment but not a surprise. As is well known, Secretary Sebelius is the architect of the "HHS mandate", now federal law, which requires all employers -- including religious institutions -- to provide health insurance coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraceptives for its employees and redefines religious ministry to exclude Catholic social services, hospitals and universities if they serve or employ non-Catholics. Given her position, it is disappointing that she would be the person that Georgetown University would choose to honor.

Founded in 1789 by John Carroll, a Jesuit priest, Georgetown University has, historically speaking, religious roots. So, too, do Harvard, Princeton and Brown. Over time, though, as has happened with these Ivy League institutions, Georgetown has undergone a secularization, due in no small part to the fact that much of its leadership and faculty find their inspiration in sources other than the Gospel and Catholic teaching. Many are quite clear that they reflect the values of the secular culture of our age.

Thus the selection of Secretary Sebelius for special recognition, while disappointing, is not surprising. Blessed John Paul II, in his 1990 apostolic constitution on Catholic Universities, Ex Corde Ecclesiae, invites Catholic universities into a relationship of faith and excellence. He calls them to share in the Church's task of bringing the Gospel and Christian values into the culture of our day. He reminds us that a Catholic university is "a living institutional witness to Christ and his message, so vitally important in cultures marked by secularism....Moreover, all the basic academic activities of a Catholic University are connected with and in harmony with the evangelizing mission of the Church," among them, "dialogue with culture that makes the faith better understood" (ECE I: B.4.49). One can only wonder how the selection of Secretary Sebelius for such a prominent role as a featured speaker can be reconciled with the stated Catholic mission and identity of Georgetown University. Secretary Sebelius' vision on what constitutes faith-based institutions presents the most direct challenge to religious freedom in recent history. On the same weekend that the Georgetown announcement was made, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the importance of Catholic education and the intellectual and cultural challenges of the New Evangelization in the context of contemporary American society. The Holy Father recalled that during his pastoral visit to America in April 2008, in his homily at the Mass at Nationals Stadium, he called on the Church in America to cultivate "a mindset, an intellectual culture which is genuinely Catholic". Last weekend he reiterated the need for American Catholic institutions of higher learning to commit to "building a society ever more solidly grounded in an authentic humanism inspired by the Gospel and faithful to the highest values of America's civic and cultural heritage". With all of the people struggling so hard to preserve freedom of religion, and with all that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has said in defense of this important value, Georgetown's choice of the architect of the radical challenge of such freedom for special recognition can only be seen as a statement of where the university stands - certainly not with the Catholic bishops. Georgetown University's response to the commencement speaker decision is disappointing, but not surprising. When the vision guiding university choices does not clearly reflect the light of the Gospel and authentic Catholic teaching, there are, of course, disappointing results.

Jesuit values and Catholic doctrine are one
and the same: they are inextricably linked, and to attempt to separate
them is to destroy both. If you are not Catholic, then you cannot ipso facto be Jesuit. Furthermore,
the lauded ideals of the Jesuits imbue us with a sense of wonder at the
majesty of creation, with a sense of vocation, with concern for all of
the human family, with tolerance and charity: these ideals are utterly
Catholic, and you cannot be Catholic except that you hold and follow
these ideals.

Christendom College is pleased to announce that Reverend Kenneth Baker, S.J., and Mother Agnes Donovan, S.V., will join the 100 members of the
Class of 2012 for commencement exercises over the weekend of May 11-13,
2012. Father Baker will offer the Baccalaureate Mass on Friday, May 11, and
will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate from College President Dr. Timothy
O'Donnell at the Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 12. Father Baker was the editor of Homiletic & Pastoral Reviewfor
the past 40 years, and currently serves as Editor Emeritus of the
online edition. He made his perpetual vows in the Society of Jesus (the
Jesuits) in 1949, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1960. He earned
his Ph.D. from Marquette University in 1967 and spent a number of years
teaching at Gonzaga University in Washington. After serving as the
president of Seattle University for almost year, in 1970, he resigned
and moved to New York where he began his role as editor of Homiletic & Pastoral Review.

About Me

I am not a Jesuit, nor am I a cleric. I spent about 5 years under the spiritual direction of a Jesuit, 3 of those years in a weekly directed retreat in everyday life. The profound impact that the Society and the Excercises had upon my life, resulted in me, trying to deal with that impact in some way by sharing my view of Jesus Christ with others. My intention is to pull together Jesuitical and Catholic subjects that interest me. I was born on the feast day of St. Paul Miki, S.J.. I am the father of three small children and an infant, I am married to a great wife.